No, this article is not about William Shakespeare, although I may end up writing about him someday...

Todays article is about that question we all ask ourselves (or should) at some point in our lives, and which, depending on the circumstances, can be either really easy or really difficult to answer:

Who are you?

I´ve mentioned before in this blog that each person is like an iceberg; this metaphor is often used to explain the neurological levels model created by Robert Dilts, which I briefly describe in this article.

And it´s at one of the deepest levels, deep down the iceberg, where we find the concept of identity.

Who we are. Or who we believe to be, just like the title of that TV programme (an excellent one, by the way) where different celebrities traced the steps of their ancestors: Who do you think you are?

The truth is that this topic of identity is quite complex. Or I should say identities, plural, because we don´t have only one, we have many, and some of them change over time. For example: I am Beatriz, I´m Galindo and I´m García. I´m BinaryBea, female, forty-something, European, Spanish, Extremaduran (from the Extremadura region), from Cáceres (no translation for "cacereña"!), expat, Spaniard in Ireland, Dublin based, computer engineer, coach, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, friend, workmate, classmate, neighbour, student, homeowner, divorcee, reader, blogger... And so on and so forth.

As you can see, some identities may contain others, overlap with them, or even contradict them, which can originate situations of internal conflict, existential dilemmas and self sabotage. It can also happen that, when one of those identities changes or disappears, we find ourselves lost and disorientated, like for example, going through a divorce or being laid off: if I can no longer define myself as X person´s spouse / Y company´s employee / you name it, then, who am I? It´s as if our chair had become wobbly, having lost one of its supporting legs, and we need to invest time and effort in stabilizing it again.

All of this is on my mind today because last Friday I heard a beautiful poem from Erin Hanson, entitled: Not:

You are not your age, nor the size of clothes you wear,
You are not a weight, or the color of your hair.
You are not your name, or the dimples in your cheeks.
You are all the books you read, and all the words you speak.
You are your croaky morning voice, and the smiles you try to hide.
You’re the sweetness in your laughter, and every tear you’ve cried.
You’re the songs you sing so loudly when you know you’re all alone.
You’re the places that you’ve been to, and the one that you call home.
You’re the things that you believe in, and the people whom you love.
You’re the photos in your bedroom, and the future you dream of.
You’re made of so much beauty, but it seems that you forgot
When you decided that you were defined by all the things you’re not.

And the following day, on Saturday, the Universe played this song for me on the radio, to follow along with the theme: The Logical Songby Supertramp - here it is with subtitles in English and Spanish.

What about you? Do you already know who you are, or do you need someone to tell you?